City staff told the Mobile City Council on Jan. 6 that the Civic Center construction remains on budget and on schedule, and that planned furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) purchases will be procured in separate packages to avoid opening delays.

Sam, an administration project representative, said progress has been affected by weather but remains on track: "We are still on budget, and we are still on schedule." He reported crews set the first of nine roof trusses and expected the arena to be "dried in" within six to eight weeks, a milestone he said would reduce schedule risk.

Councilman Woods asked for transparency about FF&E procurement and whether those purchases were already included in the project's budget. Woods said the public and media should understand these are not new over-budget items: "this is already part of the cash stack" and "this isn't over budget." Sam said the FF&E program is part of an earlier resolution authorizing approximately $11 million for the project, but that specific FF&E items are typically purchased outside of the main construction contract and brought forward as separate packages to council because of long lead times.

On procurement language, a council member asked that a vendor quote attached to an Athletica Sports Systems purchase order be removed from the packet because the quote contained standard vendor terms and conditions the city does not typically accept. The council member asked the council to approve only the city's standard purchase order form; "All we're asking for you to approve today is just the standard purchase order for the city," the council member said.

The administration said it would remove the vendor's quote and that multiple FF&E packages will return to the council as they are prepared. Sam said officials would provide additional information on equipment lifespans on request, noting the city would research the expected useful life for specific arena components.